Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to signal equalization and filtering, and more particularly, to a low power programmable equalizer or filter and related method.
Background
A data transmitter (e.g., a dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) typically transmits data to a data receiver (e.g., a system on chip (SoC)) by way of a communication medium, such as printed circuit board (PCB) metallization traces or communications cables. Such communication medium typically has a transfer function that is similar to a low pass filter, i.e., at or above a certain frequency (e.g., the cutoff frequency), the attenuation of the data signal increases with frequency. The rate at which data may be sent from the transmitter to the receiver depends on the cutoff frequency, i.e., higher cutoff frequencies—higher data rates, lower cutoff frequencies—lower data rates.
One technique to compensate for the inherent low frequency response of a communication medium is to use an equalization device or equalizer at the receiver. The equalizer has a frequency response that provides gain to higher frequencies of a received signal in order to compensate for the inherent attenuation of the higher frequencies associated with the signal transmission via a typical communication medium. Accordingly, by employing an equalizer at a receiver, higher data rates between the data transmitter and receiver may be achieved.